Stopping Ibrar Riyaz last time out (Only Riyaz’s fourth stoppage in 174 fights)
“His record on paper isn’t great but he’s been in with some of the biggest names in Britain. My and my team didn’t think I was going to get him out of there. I went in there expecting to fight through the four rounds but I relaxed, caught him and when I was landed, I hurt him.”
Daryl Pearce, his next opponent
“It’s a little step up. He’s a welterweight coming down in weight so he’s big for the division. I don’t like to watch too many videos of my opponents. They’re often not going to fight me in the same way they’ve fought other guys so I just see enough to have a rough image of them in my head and then try to work them out in the first round.”
Dealing with defensive journeymen fighters
“You’ve got to use a lot of feints and get them to react and commit. I’ve boxed most of the styles out there in the amateurs so I just have to adapt and work out their routines.”
Fighting at the O2
“It wasn’t even a year since I was supporting Charlie (Edwards, his Steel City gym mate) when he won his world title at the O2 and was sitting there thinking that one day I wanted to fight there. It was crazy to get that chance and a TV slot in just my second fight. With the sell out, it should be a great atmosphere again on Saturday.”
Moving from 4 rounds to 6
”It’s not a huge change but you do have to take care to just pace it a little differently. Slow it down a bit and make sure you have enough left to give it a late push; I need to make sure to not try to do too much too early.”
Future Plans
”Matchroom are good with progressing young fighters; it’s only my third fight and I’ve already been on two pay-per-view shows. It would be nice to get on a US show, perhaps on Charlie’s undercard if that happens sometime next year. I’m hoping to have one more fight before the end of this year which would complete an active first year, which was always the plan. Next year I want try to push on and get a title. Sam O’Maison is the English champion at the moment and we know each other and get on, he’s been down our gym sparring recently. We’re both from Sheffield so it would make sense.”